Individual Gelatin Desserts

Gelatin desserts are perfect for summer, especially the 4th of July when using red and blue gelatin. But you can mix and match any of your favorite flavors all summer long. Lemon and Lime, Orange and Raspberry, or maybe just double up on strawberry!

Plus, they make a great dessert when you don’t want to heat your kitchen. Simply boil the water to make the gelatin, and the rest of the steps can be done on the table–away from the stove. This makes them a wonderful food project to do with little children. And they are so refreshing to eat, after a long, hot day. As our youngest grandson says, they’re “DE-licious!”

When I was a girl, I loved making individual Jell-O desserts for my family. Back then, I put them in tall glasses, but I really like the look of using glass Sundae or Milkshake dishes. So fancy! These vintage glasses can easily be found at thrift or antique shops for a few dollars.

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Ingredients for Individual Gelatin Desserts

(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Gather the ingredients for this recipe so that you have everything close on the counter or table. For this recipe you’ll need a tea kettle to boil the water, as well as two bowls for mixing the gelatin. A medium-sized scoop is also helpful when filling the dishes.

Prepare the Ingredients

Rinse and drain fresh strawberries and blueberries in a colander.

Using a pairing knife, remove the tops from the strawberries and slice into small pieces.

Make the Gelatin

Using a tea kettle, boil the water for making the gelatin. While the water heats, go ahead and add the red and blue gelatin mixture into two medium-sized bowls.

Measure boiling water out with a glass measuring cup and pour one cup into each of the bowls. Stir constantly until the gelatin has dissolved.

This is a great step to do with little children. They love to watch the water turn colors and to practice stirring without slopping water everywhere. Practice makes perfect! We did one bowl at a time, but if you have more than one child, go ahead and do both.

Once the gelatin has dissolved, add 7 regular-sized ice cubes to each bowl. Continue stirring the gelatin until the ice cubes have melted. Repeat these steps for the second bowl of gelatin.

Using ice cubes instead of cold water helps the gelatin to set faster. 

Add the sliced strawberries to the strawberry gelatin, and the blueberries to the blue gelatin. Cover and refrigerate until the gelatin has moderately set, about 1 hour.

For this dessert, the gelatin does not need to completely set, as it will be scooped into dishes. I stirred the gelatin twice as it was setting.

Spoon whipped cream and marshmallow cream into a large bowl.

Mix well with a whisk until combined. I found that a dough whisk worked really well for this step.

We used half of an 8 oz container of whipped cream, and 1/2 of an 7 oz container of marshmallow cream. This made enough for 6 large milkshake dishes. Simply refrigerate the remaining cream to make more desserts later in the week. 

Once the gelatin has set enough, it’s time to assemble the dishes. Use a medium 2 oz. disher scoop or 1/4 – 1/3 cup to measure each color, depending on the size of dessert dishes you are using.

We used smaller sundae dishes for the little children, and larger milkshake dishes for the adults. But use what you have an try to eyeball how much you’ll need of each. These measuring amounts are simply suggestions and what worked for us.

Begin with the blueberry mixture on the bottom, dishing out about 2 oz into the bottom of the cups. Be sure to center the scoop in the middle of the dish for less mess.

Next, add a scoop of the whipped topping mixture.

Last, add the strawberry gelatin mixture to the dish, spreading to the edges of the cup.

Unless you’re extremely careful in dishing the gelatin, it may be necessary to clean up any spills with a paper towel. But if you’re not overly concerned, just let the kids have fun with this and do the best you can to clean up any mess on the dish. 

At this point, the dessert is ready to eat. Or you may cover the tops with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. These individual desserts will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

If desired, you may garnish each dessert with a dollop of Redi-Whip, and red, white, and blue sugar sprinkles. This recipe will make 6 larger desserts or 8-10 smaller desserts.

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